anki changed my retention but i still had one problem that took me a while to fix
Been using anki for a while now and honestly it genuinely works, the spaced repetition side of things is solid and i stopped forgetting stuff the way i used to
but my one issue for the longest time was card quality. i'd make cards too broad, too wordy, or just poorly structured and they wouldn't stick the way they should. i'd review them and still feel like i didn't actually understand the concept, just recognized the words
what helped me fix it was changing how i approach the material before i even open anki. instead of going straight to making cards after reading something, i started testing myself on the concept first using brain dump, it generates flashcards from whatever u paste and has a teach back feature that checks understanding before i even start making anki cards
if i couldn't explain it simply i knew my understanding wasn't solid enough to make good cards yet. going back to the material with that gap identified made the cards i made after way more targeted and effective
the review sessions started feeling different after that. instead of just recognizing answers i was actually recalling and understanding them
wonder if anyone else had issues with card quality early on and what changed it for you